Great news from France, that Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa has been given a clean bill of health by the medical staff at the French Football Academy at Clairefontaine, just south of Paris.
Hatem Ben Arfa – now fully fit according to French medics
It seems that Ben Arfa got the go-ahead around two weeks ago in France, and he is now fully fit, and will return to training at Newcastle a week tomorrow, when pre-season training starts on Tyneside.
Alan Pardew had kept saying that Ben Arfa would be a big player for Newcastle next season, and that he planned to play him in the laid back position behind the main striker – a position captain Kevin Nolan has played with significant success these last two seasons.
So there were questions about where would Kevin play next season, but of course he is now no longer at Newcastle, having joined West Ham United on a bumper contract recently.
Ben Arfa’s English-based adviser Simon Stainrod has continually talked of Newcastle’s excellent handling of the youngster during his long recovery, and Newcastle got great press in France on how they have managed one of France’s most promising young stars, back to fitness.
Simon has today talked to the Sunday Sun with some positive news:
“Hatem has been signed off the sick list and has been for a couple of weeks.” “He’s doing fine – he’s on holiday at the moment but he’s absolutely desperate to get back in among things.”
“He’ll be back at Newcastle for the start of pre-season and while nothing is ever certain with anyone, he’ll really benefit from a full pre-season.”
“The end of the season has come at a good time for him,” “The break has given him a little bit of space.” “There’s no pressure on him, people aren’t asking him when he’s coming back all the time and I think that has helped.”
There was also a big scare for the lad when he had to have a second emergency operation in Paris last November, after the leg had become infected, after first being set in early October.
And it seemed rather serious, but that seocnd operation was a complete success, and we think Alan Pardew was right not to bring him back last season, but let him have a few more weeks to fully recover.
We just love this player, and even more so now, after the courage and dedication the 24 year-old he has shown in getting himself back to full fitness.
It will be terrific to have Ben Arfa back in full training a week tomorrow, and we’re sure the Newcastle fans will give this brave youngster a great welcome back to Newcastle.
He certainly deserves it.
Comments welcome.
155 comments so far
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:35 PM
Comment #41Didn’t pardew say that Gosling and HBA would be returning to pre season traing earlier than the rest of the squad to give then a head start?
Andy
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:35 PM
Comment #42http://frenchfootballweekly.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/the-forgotten-hit-man-mevlut-erding/
Decent read up on erding there. Would be a good deal if we could get him in for £6.5m
arfa chance
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Comment #43With the derth of attacking, or creative talent we have had over the last four years, is it any wonder that we are excited by someone with vision and creative nous like Hba
Andy
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:38 PM
Comment #44Manchester United
Premier League (2): 1995–96, 1996–97
FA Cup (2): 1995–96, 1998–99
FA Community Shield (2): 1994, 1996
UEFA Champions League (1): 1998–99
There is a list of honours david may won. He must be one of the best players in Manure history?
Tonytoon73
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Comment #45Andy could he hack it in the premier league tho. lol
iamnufc
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Comment #46Hey guys alot of rumors of nufc holding a press conf today….any truth??
09nufc09
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Comment #47Boater… I was at the blackpool and stoke games he played in, against blackpool he was brought on and was changing the game, going past people at will and then houghton decided to go 424 and we got caught on the break. Against stoke he was playing alright in a very poor team, andy carroll wasnt running and nolan was having one of his lazy games, we were playing with perch and routledge who were both very poor, tiote was the best player on the pitch and houghton took him off and stoke took control of the game, then perch decided to head the ball into our goal.
GeordieRob
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:41 PM
Comment #48http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/26/newcastle-united-stoke-city-premier-league-live
I don’t remember him being terrible, just underdone v Stoke. There are a lot of complimentary comments for Benny here.
iamnufc
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Comment #49Peeps check out this article regarding our target eroding…very interesting read. I sincerely feel that this guy could be the real deal. the power of ba and pace of erding could indeed be a frightening partnership for opposing teams.
http://frenchfootballweekly.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/the-forgotten-hit-man-mevlut-erding/
iamnufc
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:45 PM
Comment #50Andy you beat me to it haha
Offkey
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Comment #51I like the sound of this Erding/c. I haven’t seen much of him, just the usual Dennis Wise scouting techniques (youtube) which a of course extremely reliable. However, If Carr thinks he’s got goals to offer (even if his ratio’s aren’t good enough for some) or he provides a Bellamy-esque like role, I would be happy for him to show us what he can do, especially at 6.5 mil.
nufcgaz687
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Comment #52iamnufc@46
where you hearing that from mate
gorskino10
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:57 PM
Comment #53Great news, i hope his mindset hasnt changed, i remember Beckham after his injury years ago and he started ducking out of tackles etc.. Ben Arfa could do the same i just hope he stays posistive and has a pre season which is good and injury free and something Arfa deserves.
@iamnufc
He has ALOT to prove has struggled to score in Ligue 1 for the past few season, his goal scoring ratio is rather poor and Kevin Gamiero was brought in to replace him.
They are replacing him because he isnt good enough.
If he does come here Melvet is joining a tougher/harder league, and coming here with a poor scoring ability is rather worrying we need someone whos consistant at scoring like Anthony Ujah, Ideye Brown, Modibo Maiga etc…
..SwedishMagpie..
Jun 26, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Comment #54this n’zogbia thing is just ridiculous.. he is a french international, he saved wigan from being relegated, he is pure class. so ofcourse he will cost alot..
toonfan09
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:01 PM
Comment #55gorskin
the season before last erdnic scored 15 goals
roshan MAGPIE
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:03 PM
Comment #56WELCOME BACK HATEM
arfa chance
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Comment #57They are replacing him as he plays the same position as Hoarare. Its like playing Torres and Drogba. They occupy the same space, make the same runs and get in reach others way. So psg have brought a gameiro to compliment hoarare as he is the taller of the two and more physically stonger. The previous season he did well but this season had injuries and also couldn’t work an effective partnership with hoarare. plus gameiro and hoarare are being groomed to be the french national teams forward line up.
Andy
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Comment #58Maiga = Played 138 games scored 28 goals and you complain about erding’s ratio ..
niafron
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:10 PM
Comment #59Bonjour messieurs.
Pfffffffffiiiiiooouuuuuuuu….
Will breathe better…
Well, his fit, but there’s only games who will tell us if he got back all his physicals aptitudes.
niafron
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:12 PM
Comment #60About hoarau and Erding.
They didn’t play well together this season. But in fact, neither did they play well alone.
So, this is difficult to find an explanation. It was just a bad season for both of them…
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:22 PM
Comment #61niafron
How good is Loïc Rémy of Marseille?
Seems he ha had a good last season
iamnufc
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:24 PM
Comment #62Alot of twitter talk abt a press conf at nufc, just take it with a pinch of salt. Guys I think to determine the quality of a player we have to look at other contributions of a player other than stats like assists and goals. For eg Jonas stats on goals and assists su?ks but he is invaluable in the sense he tracks back to defend, stretches the def of opp teams resulting in more space for our players, drawing fouls for free kicks, starts off out attacks. My point is similar to erding he didn’t score alot of goals but he def helps out in other ways…
arcarius
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:26 PM
Comment #63remy is a striker, but deschamp used him as a winger, thats why i think he didnt score that many goals, kinda opposite like what wenger did with van persie
MacToon(Vive le Neuchâtel)
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Comment #64Slow day today, what happened to the “exclusive” “breaking news” announced by the twit-er reporter guy?
Oh he said it to help sell papers! typical journo.
As for HBA, gotta be good news and can’t wait to see him in B&W again.
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Comment #65arcarius
he still scored 15 goals last season
ToonTiote
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:32 PM
Comment #66Hutton, Bassong, Lennon, Keane, Kranjcar and Giovani dos Santos have all been apparently told they can move on to diff clubs as Spurs cant spend until they sell well I wouldnt mind putting a few bids in for couple of them if am honest get a bit depth and even push for starting with Lennon if thats true.
niafron
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:33 PM
Comment #67@jackButler
Lol… Since i’m on this blog, i have never cease to tell how Rémy was excellent. Moreover, he got a perfect profile for NUFC.
THis winter, he was in difficulty, so it was maybe possible to sign him. The opportunity have gone however due to an excellent season’s end.
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:33 PM
Comment #68http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=druvmWa1454
a big of a gangsta, but very good young player.
1:52 is class
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Comment #69niafron
He looks a better deal for us than Erdinc, how much do you think he would cost us?????
nufcgaz687
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:35 PM
Comment #70ToonTiote
id have all apart from hutton and keane to old but the others would add dept to the sqaud
arcarius
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:35 PM
Comment #71lol jackbutler, honestly never expected him to score that much in that role, thats sick
arcarius
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:36 PM
Comment #72Wouldnt mind Dos Santos, exciting young player
Andy
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:39 PM
Comment #73Dos santos’ goal last night in the gold cup final was absolute quality, fits the profile in both senses, young and minimal outlay. Bit of a risk but good player when i’ve seen him for mexico
Stuart
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:40 PM
Comment #74Lennon is supposed to be valued at £20m off old floppy chops like so we’re out of the running before we even enter it haha.
Stuart
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:41 PM
Comment #7526 Jun 2011 10:58:41
gervihno to sign for nufc when new orange away top get released
Hahah, I see toonruz has been posting on newcastlerumours!
Mags
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:42 PM
Comment #76tut tut does that mean our ‘arry has overspent again? Canna believe it!
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:43 PM
Comment #77Stuart
perhaps he’ll find someone on there who will believe him lol
niafron
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:45 PM
Comment #78@jackButler
AhAh!
I’ve already post this video on the blog 2 months ago!
Fine dancer isn’t it? Don’t worry, it’s just for the show, he’s a nice guy.
Well, Marseille just don’t want to sell him, and he don’t want to leave. He was buyed 15 millions euros. So it will be at least that and probably more for the club now, ans you will need a big contract offer to convince to leave the most popular french club, who will play champions league next season…
There’s maybe a small chance, considering Deschamps, is not a great fan of the player, but according to recent Rémy statements, he will remain in Marseille.
Toon1978
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:45 PM
Comment #79Redknapp is am idiot. He expects to poach every bugger else’s players for peanuts yet he puts huge price tags on his own player. The man is a complete crook. Wouldn’t trust him as far as i could throw him. He seems the type of fella that would sell his mother down the river.
JackButler
Jun 26, 2011 at 1:47 PM
Comment #80niafron
your right the boy can dance lol.
shame because he looks a great player, would you say that he’s better than Erdinc???